Ray Nitschke
by Ghostboy814
Summary: Oneshot: The story of how Vlad got that football.


My brother was talking about how on our last vacation he met Joe Namuth (sp?), and so this year when we went to Florida he brought a football just in case he ran into him again. It immediately reminded me of Vlad's football in BR, but strangely, the idea of putting it in a fic only occurred to me a couple of hours ago. Anyway, here it is-the story behind Vlad's most prized possession.

**Disclaimer: I do not own Danny Phantom, the Packers, or any otherorganization/company that I happen to mention during this fic.**_

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This has to be the greatest day of my life_, thirty-year-old Vlad Masters thought to himself as he took his seat. He had just made $25 million in a business transaction the previous week, and had decided to treat himself by buying tickets to a Packers game. And by 'tickets' he meant an entire front section of the stadium. None of the idiot cheeseheads that usually came to these games would be disturbing _him_.

He cheered his head off as the objects of his obsession came out onto the field, and then booed as the opposing team, the New York Jets, entered the stadium. Out of the corner of his eye he noticed a few cameramen take his picture. Whether it would adorn the front page of tomorrow's sports section or business section, Vlad couldn't tell. What a funny photo he must make-a lone fan waving in the middle of an entirely empty section.

His team wasn't doing too well in the first half. Sure, their offense was fine, but their defense wasn't quite up to snuff, and by halftime they were down by a couple of touchdowns. Vlad was disheartened, but still kept up hope that is idols would be able to come around in the second half.

The halftime show that day was the popular band Ember and the Pyros. The vocalist with dyed-blue hair was singing their hit song, _Remember_. She and her pink guitar worked wonders with the audience; even the burly men wearing green and gold paint from head to toe were moved to tears by her lyrics. Something terrible happened at the end of the show, though; during the fireworks display some strands of Ember's hair got clipped by sparks and it caught flame. She tried to stop, drop, and roll but that ended up setting the stage on fire. The whole thing went up in a massive fireball. The entire band was incinerated.

Fortunately, the inferno didn't spread very much past the stage, so emergency crews were able to put it out relatively quickly. To the delight of Vlad and the other fanatics, the second half of the game was able to get underway after less than an hour.

During the second half, the home team pulled all the stops and sent in their secret weapon-the legendary Ray Nitzchke. They didn't want to play him before because they wanted to conserve him, but they needed him now. He was unstoppable; he was singularly responsible for at least five Packers touchdowns. They ended up winning the game with a comfortable margin.

As the teams went back into their respective locker rooms, Vlad and the other fans went wild. He was so happy that he didn't even notice that he was beginning to sink down through his seat. He felt a _thump_ on his backside and looked around confusedly. He heard the coach giving the rest of the team a congratulatory speech and realized that he must have accidentally phased through the ground and landed in the Packers locker room.

"I think," the coach was saying, "That today's game ball should go to Ray for his amazing performance in the second half." Vlad heard cheering and a loud shuffling as the players changed and began filing towards the exit to the parking lot. The exit that was located directly behind Vlad.

Before Vlad could think to go invisible, the first player turned the corner and ran into him. It was Ray. Vlad was too star struck to speak.

"I…uh…hi," was all he managed to get out.

"Hey, you must be Vlad Masters."

"You…know my name?"

"Sure I do! You just clinched the deal with Microsoft the other week. I have a lot of stock in your company, and I did really well because of it."

"I'm…honored…"

"Wait a minute-you're also the guy that bought out an entire section's worth of seats today."

"Yeah, that was me."

"Wow, you must be a really big fan. Here, give me a second," He rummaged around in his athletic bag for a bit.

"Here," he pulled out the game ball and a marker and autographed it, "Take this." Vlad received the ball with shaking hands.

"This…is the greatest day of my life…"he stuttered. Ray laughed.

"Don't mention it. See you around, Vlad!" He walked past a stunned Vlad towards the exit.


End file.
